Democrats are making a significant push to recapture Latino voters after suffering a dramatic erosion of support during the 2024 presidential election cycle.
Kamala Harris won the Latino vote by just three points in 2024, a steep collapse from Joe Biden’s 25-point margin among the same demographic in 2020, according to the Pew Research Center.
With 2026 midterm elections approaching, swing districts carrying large Hispanic populations are expected to play a decisive role in determining which party controls the House.
The campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, known as BOLD PAC, launched a program in February designed to connect social media influencers directly with voters in competitive districts.
“We’re turning to trusted voices in local communities that have followings giving them information and then allowing them to create content in a way that is organic and authentic,” said Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., who chairs BOLD PAC.
BOLD PAC is not paying creators for posts but is providing stipends of $1,500 per event to cover flights, hotels, and other travel costs.
Latina content creator Alexa Flores, who once focused primarily on beauty tips and fashion, shifted toward political content in response to the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Flores, who has nearly 500,000 followers across her platforms, is attending get-out-the-vote events in key swing districts, including a wine tasting in Las Cruces, N.M., and a DÃa de los Muertos event in Tucson, Ariz.
“My job is to get people to understand that so that they can go and move that needle,” Flores said, emphasizing her focus on helping Latino voters recognize their collective political impact.
The strategy targets a growing information channel, as 30% of Latinos regularly get their news from social media influencers, more than any other demographic, according to the Pew Research Center.
“So whether that’s Instagram or YouTube or TikTok, that’s how they’re getting their information,” Sánchez said. “So we need to be in those spaces.”
Democratic strategist Stephanie Valencia, co-founder of Equis Research, warns that rebuilding durable trust among Latino voters will be far more difficult than a single election cycle of outreach can achieve.
Equis Research estimates roughly a third of Latino voters identify as independent, and of those, more than 40% believe neither party genuinely cares about people like them.
“One election cycle is not going to solve the problem that Democrats have had and a frayed trust with Latino voters that has developed over the last several election cycles,” Valencia said.
In 2024, President Trump grew his party’s share of the Latino vote by double digits to 48%, leaving Democrats with only a slim majority among a demographic they once dominated, per Pew Research Center data.
Latinos shifted right in 2024 partly in response to what many saw as liberal immigration policies and a Democratic focus on foreign intervention over domestic economic concerns under Biden.
Valencia also cautions that some Democratic campaigns continue to underestimate how persuadable Latino voters actually are, often arriving with insufficient spending and messaging far too late in the cycle.
“Latinos are just a more persuadable universe and can’t just be treated as a base turnout universe for Democrats,” she said.
Texas influencer Solangie Hernandez Hollowell, also working with BOLD PAC, focuses her content on issues like taxes and immigration rather than endorsing specific candidates, aiming for a deeper connection with her community.
“Latinos feel like politicians show up just right before the election. I don’t feel like we feel very heard,” Hernandez Hollowell said, capturing a frustration that Democrats are now racing to address.
Flores summed up the broader stakes: “The wave of Latinos growing in this country is becoming a bigger voice for a lot of things.”
